<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Quest for Eros' Wayward Arrow by demi_god</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30092547">The Quest for Eros' Wayward Arrow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/demi_god/pseuds/demi_god'>demi_god</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the demigod series [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Creatures &amp; Monsters, Alternate Universe - Gods &amp; Goddesses, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Demigod Isaac Lahey, Demigod Stiles Stilinski, Demigod Theo Raeken, Demigods, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:48:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,768</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30092547</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/demi_god/pseuds/demi_god</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Why are you carrying an <i>empousa</i>?” Stiles cries incredulously, looking alarmingly at the unconscious shapeshifter. It’s female with a beautiful face but hideous one hairy donkey leg and the other a prosthetic one made of Celestial bronze - and lying like a sack of flour over one of Isaac’s shoulders.</p><p>Theo steps forward, pursing his lips. “We’re on a quest, Stiles.” he says, “And we need your help.”</p><p>•<br/>•</p><p>Because demigods work on Valentine's Day, too!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Theo Raeken/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the demigod series [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2155698</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Quest for Eros' Wayward Arrow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was written for SteoVDay 2021 on <a href="https://voidstilesplease.tumblr.com/post/643113592242274304/for-steoevents-steovday-the-quest-for-eros">Tumblr</a>.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p>—</p><p>Walking the wet pavement on his way to his apartment, Stiles reaches inside his hoodie for his dagger, <em>eirènè</em>. His senses are tingling, alerting him that something is off - something is following him. Inconspicuously, he bumps against a stranger in an excuse to turn around, half-heartedly apologizing, while his eyes scan the space behind him. Nothing suspicious to the common eyes. Then again, monsters lurk behind the Mist.</p><p>He pulls the hood over his head and continues walking, his pace faster this time. February in New York is cold, rainy, and with the possibility of snow, but hundreds of people still walk around the city, trickling in and out of establishments. It’s going to cause a ruckus if there <em>is</em> a monster trailing Stiles. But it’s better to end it before it starts.</p><p>Passing by a flower shop with reflective glass panes, he spots it - a disturbance in the atmosphere as it knocks back a potted plant from the sidewalk. Stiles thinks he also hears noises and grunts. Facing forward, he sets his jaw and straightens his spine to get ready. Stiles’s fingers close around tightly on <em>eirènè</em>, veering from his direction and turning sharply into an alley, walking faster, leading himself and his pursuer deep into a more deserted location. Up ahead, he finds a narrower passageway, and he makes another turn toward it.</p><p>Seconds later, he hears an empty can rattling. He shoulders off his school bag and chucks it to the ground unceremoniously. Then, he pounces.</p><p>•••</p><p>What he finds himself holding his blade against is not a monster, though. It’s Theo in the camp’s orange T-shirt, choking on Stiles’s arm around his neck. When he realizes who it is, Stiles quickly releases his grip. He stares at the boy wide-eyed, in a mix of confusion and anger.</p><p>“What,” Stiles gapes as Theo bends to cough. “What are you doing here?” Stiles’s arms flail. “And why are you following me? I could’ve hurt you, you know, dumbass.”</p><p>Theo points an accusing finger, still coughing a little. “Hey,” he glares, rubbing his throat with his other hand. “I slipped a note in your pocket.”</p><p>Stiles frowns. Someone <em>had</em> slipped a note in his pocket, but that was back at school. “You’ve been following me since school? I thought it was just a random Valentine’s note from-” he cuts himself abruptly. It’s probably unwise to be talking to Theo about a nameless admirer.</p><p>But Theo is already narrowing his eyes, “<em>Who’s</em> giving you Valentine’s notes?”</p><p>“Hey,” another voice grunts out of thin air, male, startling Stiles to action, raising his knife again and making a defensive stance. He sweeps his eyes around but sees nothing. It speaks again. “Could you cancel the glamour now before Stiles sticks his knife to my forehead?”</p><p>The accent and dry tone is familiar, and just when Stiles places the voice to its owner, Theo touches an empty space with a sigh, and Isaac, son of Aphrodite, appears of thin air, holding a limp-</p><p>“Why are you carrying an <a href="https://images.app.goo.gl/xfh71MdowU5NZEs48"><em>empousa</em></a>?” Stiles cries incredulously, looking alarmingly at the unconscious shapeshifter. It’s female with a beautiful face but hideous one hairy donkey leg and the other a prosthetic one made of Celestial bronze - and lying like a sack of flour over one of Isaac’s shoulders.</p><p>Theo steps forward, pursing his lips. “We’re on a quest, Stiles.” he says, “And we need your help.”</p><p>•••</p><p>“So, let me recap,” Stiles says after Theo and Isaac finish explaining a bit of the situation. “Somehow, a group of empousai got hold of one of the god Eros’s magical love arrows.” Stiles looks at the two demigods for confirmation. When they both nod, he continues. “And now, they’re using that arrow to bewitch young men into entering this blind dating thing where these vampire ladies could suck the poor, loveless guys dry?”</p><p>Isaac nods, shifting the limp empousa onto another shoulder. Stiles grimaces at the creature. “Eros called in a favor from my mother to send a quest to retrieve it. Aphrodite appeared to me to do the quest. Ares bonked Theo in the head-” Theo rolls his eyes hard at this. It’s a marvel how Theo is an expert at eye-rolling now. He must have picked it up from <strike>Stiles</strike> someone. “-to come with me. Now, we’re on a mission to take back our shared brother’s magic arrow on this fine day of hearts and roses. It’s all very lovely.”</p><p>Theo gives Isaac a flat book before turning to Stiles, “Hecate explains that she can’t stop the nature of her children, but that she can assist.” Theo takes a purple pouch from a front pocket and shows it to Stiles. “The goddess had Lydia send this to us. Invisibility dust. We have enough for the three of us to come in undetected into the building where the empousai are holding the blind dates. At least, for a few minutes.”</p><p>“What perfect occasion to seduce desperate men to their deaths other than Valentine’s Day, huh?” Isaac quips from behind them, grinning dryly.</p><p>“Okay,” Stiles says nodding, “and why do you need my help exactly?”</p><p>Theo pauses for a second, caught off-guard, recovers, then shrugs casually, “You’re a very skilled demigod, and from around the area.”</p><p>Isaac snorts loudly.</p><p>“<em>Shut up</em>, Isaac,” Theo grinds his teeth without turning to him.</p><p>The empousa on Isaac’s shoulder shifts and moans, but Isaac commands her to sleep again. She hangs limply once more - just like that. Charm speaking is handy and definitely scary.</p><p>Theo shakes his head, exhaling a long-suffering sigh. When he looks at Stiles, he puffs his chest and straightens as if he’s about to reveal a life-altering secret. “It’s true. We can use your battle expertise. But there’s also something else,” Theo takes another pause. “The presence of Eros’s arrow won’t beguile only four people: his children, children of Aphrodite, Hecate’s children because it’s currently under enchantments by the goddess’ followers, and-” he stops again, wetting his lips. “anyone touching or near someone they’re in love with.”</p><p>For a second, Stiles stops breathing, quickly understanding the implication. It still throws him off-kilter, though. Did Theo really just-</p><p>“So,” Theo speaks again, stepping closer, looking into Stiles’s eyes. “I need <em>you</em> with me in this quest.”</p><p>Isaac makes another impatient noise in the background, but Stiles cannot focus on anything else at the moment. His vision tunnels on Theo and the honesty in his eyes.</p><p>Finally, swallowing with butterflies in his stomach, Stiles finds his voice. “How do you know it will work on you?”</p><p>For a moment, Theo looks confused. Then, he laughs at the question as if it’s ridiculous that Stiles even asked. “It will,” he says with absolute certainty that his eyes are bright with it. “After all, it worked on Calypso’s island. I have zero doubts.”</p><p>At the mention of Calypso’s island, Stiles becomes aware of the cold pendant of Theo’s Christmas gift, sitting on his collarbone with the words <em><strong>for bringing</strong></em> <strong><em>me back from Ogygia</em></strong> where three azurite stones sit as proof of the mythical island’s existence. And how Theo came back from it. Stiles’s hand reach unconsciously to feel it, now familiar to his skin after over a month of wearing it with his camp beads.</p><p>Theo’s eyes track the movement, smiling when he realizes what Stiles is touching. It’s the first time Theo sees it on Stiles.</p><p>Stiles clears his throat, forcing down the heat rising to his face, only faintly aware of Isaac murmuring behind them - probably charm speaking pedestrians to walk the opposite direction or just muttering to himself about the delay. From the corner of his eyes, Stiles sees the son of Aphrodite move the empousa to the other shoulder again. But it feels as if it’s happening miles away from him and Theo. Hands falling to his sides, he puts <em>eirènè</em> back to its sheath. Then, Stiles opens his mouth and asks, “How do you know it will work on <em>me</em>?”</p><p>Theo falters at that, studying Stiles’s face as he considers the question. Then, his gaze drops to where the pendant is and flicks back up with a reply, “Won’t it?”</p><p>Stiles bites the inside of his mouth to stop the dumb smile threatening to break through his face. But he knows his eyes must be laughing because Theo grins dopily at him, taking cue from his reaction, making Stiles’s insides somersault in a giddiness he only ever knew with the son of Ares, of all people.</p><p>“You guys are pathetic,” Isaac comments, and it’s without heat that Stiles kindly tells him to <em>shut up</em>.</p><p>“All right,” Stiles announces cheerfully after a few seconds of daffy staring, feeling like a total dork. He picks and hoists his school bag on his back. Belatedly, he thanks the Fates that he left all his textbooks in his locker. “Let’s go, then.”</p><p>“<em>Finally</em>,” Isaac grumbles, opening his palm expectantly for the pouch of invisibility dust. “Do you realize I’ve been carrying her for a while now? This girl smells like a fried donkey.”</p><p>Theo passes it to him, not losing the silly smile on his face, then fishes something from his back pocket. “Here,” he hands it to Stiles.</p><p>Stiles takes the object. It’s- “A Valentine’s card?” He asks in amusement, but his heart is dancing in his chest, and he wants to melt inside, giggling. <em>Di</em> <em>immortales</em>. He can deal with cocky, short-tempered, impulsive, asshole children of the War god, but he can’t handle the sappy ones. Stiles wants to swoon like no respectable son of Athena should. It’s as disconcerting as it’s pleasant.</p><p>Theo shrugs, looking so attractive with his eyes alight in happiness instead of fury. “At least, I get to give it to you this time. Happy Valentine’s Day, son of Athena.”</p><p>“<em>Are we going or what</em>?”</p><p>Stiles allows himself to laugh then, ignoring Isaac. Really, he should be more excited about this development. Aren’t children of Aphrodite notoriously enthusiastic about match-making and romances? Stiles opens his backpack to keep the card in safety. He feels inexplicably light at the moment that he thinks he might float. Gods, he never knew he missed Theo, but he desperately did.</p><p>“Happy Valentine’s Day, son of Ares,” Stiles answers, taking Theo’s hand when he extends it. “Now, let’s go put some bloodsuckers back to Tartarus.”</p><p>Theo smirks, brandishing his free hand in the air to conjure a weapon, a skill he now artfully masters. Instantly, a celestial bronze sword appears in his hand, folding smaller and smaller until it’s nothing but a ring on his finger. It’s so fucking hot. “It’s a date.”</p><p>~•~</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>